"Genetic, Morphology And Echolocation Variations Within Family Nycteridae In Malaysia"

• Main Author: Natasha Anina, Wanirzan
• Format: Final Year Project Report
• Language: English
• Published: Universiti Malaysia Sarawak, (UNIMAS) 2022
• Subjects: QL Zoology
• Online Access: http://ir.unimas.my/id/eprint/39709/3/Natasha%20Anina%20Binti%20Wanirzan%20%28fulltext%29.pdf; http://ir.unimas.my/id/eprint/39709/

Nycteridae is commonly known as slit-faced bats as they possess a deep longitudinal slit that runs across the top of their noseleaf. The lack of studies on the phylogenetic relationship within members of Family Nycteridae in Malaysia is the main justification of this research. Multiple datasets were assessed in this study which are the genetics, morphological and by describing the echolocation call of the nycterids in Malaysia. Tissue samples of the nycterids specimens in UNIMAS Zoological Museum and available sequences in GenBank were taken for molecular analysis. The genetic variation of the Family Nycteridae in this study were examined using cytochrome oxidase subunit Ⅰ (COⅠ) gene. Results indicates that Nycteris tragata from Borneo and Peninsular Malaysia were separated by a genetic distance of 1.9% and is supported by high bootstrap value. This could be attributed to the restriction of gene flow caused by the rising sea levels acting as a physical barrier for N. tragata populations between Borneo and Peninsular Malaysia. As for morphological, no significant morphological variation between Borneo and Peninsular Malaysia specimens were detected. A DFA plot based on seven external characters of N. tragata revealed that the groupings from Peninsular Malaysia and Borneo were highly overlapped. Hence, there is no significant variation found in N. tragata from these two regions. It was also revealed that N. tragata emits Short Multiharmonic FM Calls. However, no significant variation in echolocation calls were found. Therefore, the findings from this study suggest for future scrutiny to properly assess the variation among the population.